Unable to reconcile accounts or to create, print, or email .pdf files

There are two sections to this article. One for QuickBooks 2011 and newer the other is for QuickBooks 2010 and older. Make sure you follow the steps for the appropriate year. Intuit recommends 3 solutions for this problem. The first solution may solve your problem, or you may need to try all to resolve the issue. For best results, perform the solutions in the order shown. To make sure you do not encounter PDF issues in the future, always make sure you are on the latest release of QuickBooks.

Due to the technical nature of the steps, you may want to reach out to your IT Professional if you run into any trouble or problems performing these steps.

For Windows Server 2008 and Server 2012, the XPS Services are usually turned off by default which can conflict with QuickBooks if you use the full program (not Database Manager only) on your server. QuickBooks 2011 and later requires the XPS services to be enabled for PDF related functions to work correctly.

On you server, you need to either log on as the Administrator or user with administrator rights.

If these steps did not resolve the issue, please continue to Solution 2. Important: If you cannot print to your XPS printer outside of QuickBooks, you will need to contact your IT professional or Microsoft for assistance as the Microsft XPS Writer is not an Intuit product.

In the Print window, select Microsoft XPS Document Writer from the list of printers, and click Print.

Save the .xps file to your computer's desktop.

Go to your desktop and look for the .xps file:

If the file is not there and you did not receive an error when saving it, a security setting may be preventing you from printing to the XPS Document Writer or may be deleting the .xps file after it is created. See solutions 5 for help with changing security settings and permissions on the XPS Document Writer.

If the .xps file is there, try to open it. If there is an error opening it, or if the file does not display properly, then the XPS Document Writer will need to be reinstalled. See solution 3.

If QuickBooks encounters a problem when you try to print, or if the XPS Document Writer is not available as an option, then it needs to be reinstalled. See solutions 2 through 5.

Important: If you cannot print to your XPS printer outside of QuickBooks, you will need to contact your IT professional or Microsoft for assistance as the Microsft XPS Writer is not an Intuit product.

Important: If you uninstall a damaged XPS Document Writer, you may not be able to reinstall it. You may need to refer to Microsoft support or an IT professional if the XPS Document Writer won't install. You may also add the printer manually. The required .inf files are in the windows directory:

If a Windows user does not have permission to print to the XPS Document Writer, then QuickBooks will not be able to create the .xps file that will be converted to a .pdf file. You may need to be logged in with Admin Rights to change these permissions.

Settings in your security software, such as Norton Antivirus or McAfee Firewall, can also block the creation of .xps files. Check the settings on your security software to make sure that .xps files are not blocked.

Note: Because of the complexity and number of available firewall and antivirus programs, Intuit cannot provide support for specific issues with these products. If you need further assistance with this issue, check with your system or network administrator (if you have one), the vendor from whom you purchased your antivirus or firewall software, the software developer's web site, or a local computer consultant.

In the Print window, select Microsoft XPS Document Writer from the list of printers, and click Print.

Save the .xps file to your computer's desktop.

Go to your desktop and look for the .xps file:

If the file is not there and you did not receive an error when saving it, a security setting may be preventing you from printing to the XPS Document Writer or may be deleting the .xps file after it is created. See solutions 5 for help with changing security settings and permissions on the XPS Document Writer.

If the .xps file is there, try to open it. If there is an error opening it, or if the file does not display properly, then the XPS Document Writer will need to be reinstalled. See solution 3.

If QuickBooks encounters a problem when you try to print, or if the XPS Document Writer is not available as an option, then it needs to be reinstalled. See solutions 2 through 5.

Settings in your security software, such as Norton Antivirus or McAfee Firewall, can also block the creation of .xps files. Check the settings on your security software to make sure that .xps files are not blocked.

Note: Because of the complexity and number of available firewall and antivirus programs, Intuit cannot provide support for specific issues with these products. If you need further assistance with this issue, check with your system or network administrator (if you have one), the vendor from whom you purchased your antivirus or firewall software, the software developer's web site, or a local computer consultant.

Important: As you see in the picture below, make sure your product is selected. If not, click Choose a different product.

Select and follow the instructions for one of the update options:

Automatic Updates

Manual Update

If updating to the latest release of your version of QuickBooks (2010 and below) does not resolve the issue, consider upgrading to the latest year of QuickBooks as there has been a number of fixes and enhancements around PDFs in the current versions of QuickBooks (2011 and later).

QuickBooks uses temporary files while creating your .pdf file, named Intuit_QBOB_Internal.pdf. This file then gets converted to your .pdf. Sometimes Windows prevents these temporary files from being edited or renamed. QuickBooks is then unable to create your final .pdf file

Windows XP:
Click Run and type services.msc in the Run field and click OK.

Right-click the Print Spooler process and select Restart

Open QuickBooks and try creating a .pdf file.

Delete and reinstall the QuickBooks PDF driver. Note: Other PDF printers, such as products from Viewpoint, may use the same driver files as the QuickBooks PDF Converter. These PDF converters will also need to be deleted before the drivers can be removed.

QuickBooks uses temporary files while creating your .pdf file, named Intuit_QBOB_Internal.pdf. This file then gets converted to your .pdf. Sometimes Windows prevents these temporary files from being edited or renamed. QuickBooks is then unable to create your final .pdf file

Note: Other PDF printers, such as products from Viewpoint, may use the same driver files as the QuickBooks PDF Converter. These PDF converters will also need to be deleted before the drivers can be removed.